Coming up...
Salem Quarter Winter Workshop
Young Friends Retreat
Quaker Studies 2012 Winter Programs
Sunday,January 22, 2012 at North Shore Meeting
"Welcoming Quaker Children into Prayer and Worship"
Come and explore ways to welcome our children into the realm of prayer.
This hands-on, hearts-on gathering will take a broad and creative approach
to seeking and sensing an encounter with the Divine Presence/Spirit/God.
During our time together, we’ll deconstruct some of the steps into
prayer and try concrete, experiential exercises that will lead us toward
a
familiarity and comfort with the prayer process. We’ll try out ways to
Stop and lay down the fast-paced activities of our daily lives. We’ll
practice focusing on just one thought using finger labyrinths and
illustrated intercessory prayer to set the stage for learning to “hold
people in the
light.” We’ll recognize that prayer inspires more loving ways of living.
We can expect to be changed inwardly and outwardly when we take up a
prayer
practice. And, finally, we’ll imagine creating space and time to make
prayer a part of our daily lives.
This 90-minute workshop is family-friendly but you don’t need to have or
bring children to enjoy our journey together. We plan to include
children
in our program as much as they want to be included and will also offer a
nurturing alternative space for children who are finished with our
program
before we are! First Day School teachers are also most welcome! Handouts
will help you to continue the exploration at home.
Join North Shore Meeting for worship at 10:00.
Lunch will be at 11:30. Please bring a brown-bag lunch.
The program will run from 12:30 to 2:00 p.m.
Childcare is available by arrangement Please contact Isabella Bates at bates(dot>isabella(at-sign)gmail(dot>com or 978-526-1443
by Wednesday, January 18 if you need childcare for children under 6 yearsold.
*Spirit in Action* Retreat for Young Friends
January 21-22 at Wellesley Meeting
If you are a Young Friend in the Boston area, join in! Our inspiration is taken from the Red Hot Chili Peppers:Can't stop the spirit when it needs youArrival is noon on Saturday the 21st, departure noon on Sunday 22nd.
This life is more than just a read-though
Our hope is that by making it shorter and local we can attract Young Friends who don't normally go on the NEYM retreats. (Regular retreat-goers are also most welcome, of course!)
There will be a modest fee to cover food and use of the meeting house. (We haven't set the amount yet.) No matter what the fee, we will offer a sliding scale and ask that families only pay what they can. No one will be turned away for lack of funds. Please let interest and not finances determine your attendance.
To sign up, or if you have any questions, please contact Regina McCarthy at reginagogo at verizon dot net or 781-329-3554.
All students who attend must complete a health form, which can be found here: http://youngfriends.neym.org/node/3 Young Friends who attended Yearly Meeting or any of the NEYM retreats already have a health form on file, and don't need to do anything additional for this retreat.
This was our third year bringing Friends of all sexual orientations to walk together in Boston's Pride Parade.
Salem Quarterly Meeting participated in the Boston Pride Parade, June 11, 2011. Friends from 4 meetings and Beacon Hill Friends House walked! (photo: Jeff Hipp)
Minutes & Budget
Minutes for April 25, 2010 meeting at Framingham
Approved Budget for Fiscal Year beginning 5/1/2010
Minutes for October 24, 2010 at Cambridge
April 17, 2011 Minutes, funds report, treasurer's report and FY '12 budget
State of Society report approved fourth month, 2011
October 23, 2011 Minutes (Draft) and reports
Recent Meetings:
Spiritual Discernment and
the Decisions We Make
January 30, 2011 at South Shore
Nancy Bieber,
the author of Decision Making & Spiritual Discernment: the Sacred Art of Finding Your Way,
led us in several exercises designed to open us up in the process of
making life decisions. Here is a very short excerpt from Nancy's book and a summary of one of the exercises she led us in. Learn more about Nancy at NancyBieber.comSexuality and Spirituality, conversation starters
January 24, 2010,
Salem Quarterly Meeting
at Fresh Pond Meeting
The NEYM Working Party on Spirituality and Sexual Ethics has
asked the Monthly Meetings to join in its work discerning and
"articulating the Yearly Meeting's sexual ethics and the spirituality
of sex, recognizing that we cannot effectively criticize the sexual
ethics reflected in the FUM personnel policy without first defining our
own." (Sessions 2008-15) Our Faith & Practice calls on us to
"achieve a more adequate understanding of the proper place and purpose
of sex and sexual relationships in our lives." Many of us long for
greater integration of our sexual and spiritual selves; many of us wish
that we were better equipped to talk with our children about our sexual
values; many of us would like our meetings to be better places to find
information, support, and guidance relating to issues of sexuality. How
do we encourage the conversations that will lead us to deeper
understanding? How do we ensure that they're honest and productive? How
do we share the truths about sexuality and spirituality we discover?After meeting for worship for the conduct of business, young adult Friends Ben Guaraldi (BHMM), Will Jennings (FMC), and Molly Lidz led Friends in exercises and conversations designed to move us past our fears and embolden us to contribute to our dialogue about the ethics and spirituality of sexuality in our Monthly Meeting communities. First, the entire group brainstormed concerns and issues present in our Monthly Meetings. Then we chose a few of these issues to discuss further in small groups. The entire group heard reports from the small groups on their discussions. Friends were grateful for this opportunity to share and explore today and expressed interest in working further together within the Quarter. SQM Ministry and Counsel Committee will hear reports from the Monthly Meetings at its spring meeting and will discern appropriate forums and venues for the Quarter to facilitate further sharing and discernment.
Racial Justice in the Religious Society of Friends: An Unfinished Story
Reading about how Friends have been as prone to racism and discrimination as our compatriots in Vanessa Julye and Donna McDaniel's new book, Fit for Freedom, Not for Friendship can be a real challenge. Recognizing this, Friends General Conference's Committee for Ministry on Racism is endorsing the release of the book by providing skilled workshop leaders to help meetings and groups explore the issues raised. At our October 26 meeting two of these facilitators, Dwight & Maureen Lopes, led us in a sampling of the exercises that would constitute a full workshop. For notes from our meeting click here. To learn more about inviting a facilitator to your meeting, click here.How can we talk about it?
Click here to see materials on Talking about Sexual Ethics - Where to Start - a description of the process for effective exploration of challenging topics that Melody Brazo led us through at ourJanuary workshop.News of previous meetings.
Meetings in Our Quarter
Salem Quarterly Meeting is made up of nine meetings, one preparative meeting and several worship groups in the Greater Boston area. These links lead to web sites for the meetings which are on the internet and information sheets for those which do not have web sites.
Quarterly Meeting Schedule
Quarterly Meetings generally fall on the fourth Sunday of October, January and April. Our Summer Picnic date and location are set at our April meeting. Quarterly Meeting Ministry and Counsel committee meets about a month before the October and April meetings.
- 23 October 2011 - Wellesley Friends Meeting
- 22 January 2012 - North Shore Meeting
- 22 April 2012 - Amesbury Friends Meeting